Dancing barefoot (Patti Smith) (LP 3821 - 3828)

Patti Smith  CBGB's 1979 (2CD, Leftfield Media, 2021) ***  

Patti Smith  Gone Again (CD, Arista Records, 1996) ****  

Patti Smith  Peace and Noise (CD, Arista Records, 1997) **** 

Patti Smith  Gung Ho (CD, Arista Records, 2000) **** 

Patti Smith  Trampin' (CD, Columbia Records, 2004) **** 

Patti Smith  Twelve (CD, Columbia Records, 2007) **** 

Patti Smith  Banga (CD, Columbia Records, 2012) **** 

Patti Smith  Land 1975 - 2002 (2CD, Arista Records, 2002) **** 

Genre: Punk rock, alt rock, art rock

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Real Groovy Records,  

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: 1959 (Peace and Noise)

Gear costume: Upright Come (Gung Ho), Midnight Rider (Twelve)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: The earlier albums have been covered already: Horses to Teenage Perversity; Easter to Easter Rising; Wave to Dream of Life. Now attention turns to all the rest of her albums, starting with a recap back to 1979 and a live double recorded at CBGB's. Patti is in good form, and although her voice is showing the strains of repeated performance, she gives it her all.

I've recently read Lenny Kaye's Lightning Strikes, and he mentions CBGB's in his chapter titled New York 1975. A legendary venue and Lenny's book is warmly recommended to the blogosphere.

She kicks this clear-as-a-bell recording off with a great spindly version of Land. Other random highlights - Lenny's take on John Lennon's Cold Turkey and The Yardbird's For You Love, her telling off of an 18-year-old for smoking. 

Her return to the studio after eight years away, was Gone Again. It came with some heavy baggage as many of her close friends and family had passed away, including her husband Fred "Sonic" Smith, her brother Todd, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Sohl and Kurt Cobain.

Regardless of this, the album is an uplifting experience, as Patti deals with mortality. It sounds more like poetry set to music, rather than song lyrics and she sounds awesome!

Peace and Noise utilises the same new approach (and deals with the same territory as well) and for me it shades Gone Again. She sounds revitalised and a bit looser on this album, even the music is a bit sparser and accessible to my ears. It has a lovely single on it - 1959, as well.

Gung Ho was her final album for Arista and it's another strong effort. As AllMusic summarises: it's another handsome, shaded, and satisfying work from an artist who has reconnected with her muse. It was also the first album not to feature her on the cover - that fine looking gentleman is her father - Grant Smith. 

The band is in fine form on Gung Ho - in total command. Lenny!! He's joined by long term drummer - Jay Dee Daugherty, and new comers - Oliver Ray (guitar) and Tony Shanahan on bass. 

Next album, Trampin' also met Patti and the band's high standards. Their first album for new label, Columbia, has some terrific extended work outs - Ghandi and Radio Baghdad add up to 20 minutes plus and both are exceptional Patti Smith songs. She also provides songs that range from garage rock to poetic ballads. 

Twelve has Patti and the band working through twelve cover songs. This isn't a new concept for her - Horses starts off brilliantly with Van the man's Gloria, her concerts often featured cover versions (My Generation and others) and Wave had her take on The Byrds' So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star. 

It's a fun romp through some iconic rock songs and rock icons - Mick Jagger, Grace Slick, Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain, Neil Young, The Beatles, Jim Morrison and others. My favourite versions on Twelve are songs originally by Nirvana, Tears For Fears and Gregg Allman.

Banga is her last album, from 2012. Its concerns are again of lofty matters. Banga's subjects are - '[the] environmental crisis, the dominion of art as man's greatest gift to the divine -- as well as its own species -- homages, elegies, and love songs, all offered with authority and tenderness' (AllMusic).

Land is a 2CD compilation from Arista. It's an excellent place to start - disc one covers songs from Horses to Gung Ho, and the package offers a number of interesting rarities for collectors on the second disc - with a selection of B sides and unreleased songs.

Where do they all belong? I have a lot of Patti's work - poetry, non-fiction books, CD's, albums, singles, bootlegs, DVDs. She is incredible. She has been a cornerstone of the collection since Piss Factory. Long may she continue.